Garment construction and hanger for such garment



Oct. 17, 1967 F. D. BUZZELLI GARMENT CONSTRUCTION AND HANGER FOR SUCH GARMENT Filed June 1, 1965 FIG. I

INVENTOR FRANK BUZZELLI BY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,346,879 GARMENT CONSTRUCTION AND HANGER FOR SUCH GARMENT Frank D. Buzzelli, 22055 W. Brandon, Farmington, Mich. 48024 Filed June 1, 1965, Ser. No. 460,034 8 Claims. (Cl. 2-90) This invention relates to a construction which may be used in the formation of new garments. such as sweaters and jackets or may be applied to existing sweaters and jacket to convert them to the construction, and to a hanger which is useful for retaining garments formed in accordance with this construction.

Outer garments for the upper body such as sweaters, jackets, and dresses are commonly stored on hangers which include a hook portion adapted to engage a closet bar and a pair of arm sections which extend outwardly, in opposite directions, from the lower end of the hook. These arm sections may be inclined somewhat downwardly to follow natural shoulder line and they may have widened, rounded ends to fill out the shoulders of the garment in the manner of the shoulders of the wearer. However, they are all characterized by the fact that the garment. is completely supported at the upper side of the shoulder section and i allowed to drape downwardly therefrom. This is to be contrasted with the manner in which the garment is supported on the person of the wearer. In the case of a sweater, the garment receives support at the cults formed at the lower end of the arms and in a tightened portion around the waist, as well as, to a lesser degree, between these lines and the shoulders by the body of the wearer. In the case of jackets, coats or dresses a certain lesser degree of support is provided by the frictional fit between the garment and the under garments of the wearer.

A result of this disparity between the manner of hanging garments in storage and the manner of wearing them is that the garment sags and loses shape during hanging so as to provide an improper fit when subsequently worn.

The primary object of the present inpention is to provide a method of hanging a garment during storage which provides support to the garment in places other than just the undersides of the shoulders, in much the same manner as the garment is supported during wear, so as to maintain the garment in shape during storage. The method utilizes the novel variety of hanger and the novel construction of the garments. In the broader aspects of the invention, the construction of the garment is but a slight modification of existing garments and may be easily applied to them to create the apparatu of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, which will subsequently be disclosed in detail, a sweater of otherwise normal construction is provided with a pair of looped bands at the joinder between the arm and the shoulder on the inner side of the garment, i.e., that area that is adjacent to the armpit when the garment is worn. A special hanger is provided for garments so constructed, consisting of the bar engaging hook and a pair of shoulder support bars, sloped in opposite directions, and retaining, below their extreme ends, upwardly directed hooks which are adapted to engage the loops of the garment. When a garment containing the loops is disposed on the inventive hanger, not only are the shoulders supported in the manner of a normal hanger, but support is given to the garment at the location of the loops. This tends to support both the sides of the main section of the garment and the inner sides of the arms so that the garment drapes in much the same manner as when being worn.

Another embodiment of the invention which will also be subsequently described, contemplates a garment havzontal in an approximation of the 3,346,879 Patented Oct. 17, 1967 ing special heavy reinforcement running from the attachment point of the loops to various points along the arm cuff and lower edges of the body section. These reinforced sections act to support the weight of their lower anchor points without transmitting it through to the body of the garment. This is imitative of the manner in which the garment is supported while on the wearer and practically eliminates distortion of the garment while in storage.

Still another embodiment, also subsequently described, replaces the reinforcing strips with a controlled fabrication of the garment itself. That is, if the garment is of a woven material, a heavy woven area may extend from the base of the loops and spread outwardly and downwardly to the bottom of the arms and the body section. Such controlled sections act to evenly distribute the upward force of the hanger throughout the body of the garment to prevent unnatural draping.

It is therefore seen to be a primary object of the present invention to provide a hanger for garments such as sweaters which has a pair of hooks disposed adjacent to the extreme ends of its shoulder supports, said hooks being operative to engage loops sewn to the inner side of the attachment between the inner arm section of the garment and the body section to provide support for the garment at areas other than solely through the shoulders.

Another object is to provide a garment for use with such a hanger which has loops formed adjacent to the inner sides of the upper arms, and also has reinforcing strips connecting the bases of the loops with points on the lower extremes of the arms and the body of the garment.

Other objects, advantages, and applications of the present invention will be made apparent by the following detailed description of several preferred embodiments of the invention. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a sweater and a hanger, which represent the first embodiment of the invention, with portions of the sweater broken away for purposes of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view through the body of the sweater of FIGURE 1, taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view through the sleeve of the sweater of FIGURE 2, taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a front view of a hanger representing another embodiment in the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the hanger employed in the embodiment of FIGURE 1, generally indicated at 10, is preferably formed of wire or plastic but may be formed of any other suitable material. It includes an elongated downwardly directed, semi-circular hook portion 12 which is adapted to pass over and engage a closet bar of the normal variety so as to support the balance of the system. At its lower end, a connecting section 14 joins the hook 12 to a pair of elongated shoulder support bars 16. The shoulder support bars extend outwardly in opposite directions at the lower end of the connecting section 14 and are formed integrally therewith. When the connecting section 14 is disposed in a vertical plane, as it is when the hanger is in use, the shoulder stipport bars 16 are inclined downward with respect to the horinatural slope of shoulders.

At their extreme lower, outer ends, the shoulder support bars 16 support upwardly directed strap hooks 18. The strap hooks 18 are joined to the ends of the shoulder bars 16 by bent rounded sections 20 so that the hooks hang below the outer extremities of the shoulder bars 16 and within the extreme horizontal departure of the ends of the bars from their joinder with the connecting section 14.

In embodiment FIGURES l-3, the strap hooks 18 are disclosed as being opened in opposing directions, that i in a direction away from each other. However, the hooks could as easily be oriented in the opposite direction. The section 20which joins the extreme outer end of the shoulder support bars 16 to the strap hooks 18 is gently rounded at its outer sides .so as to avoid any sharp protrusion which might damage an article hung thereon.

This hanger is useful in retaining outer garments such as the sweater generally indicated at 30 which is essentially of normal construction, having a body section 32 and end arms 34. One of the primary modifications made to the sweater 30 to convert it to use in the present invention is the provision of cloth loops 36 at the interior side of the sweater adjacent to the lower ends of the joinders between the arms 34 of the sweater and the body 32. These loops 36 are formed of elongated sections of fabric having their two ends sewn to the fabric of the sweater at the securing point, and having their mid'sections loosely looped between the two end sections.

The sweater 30 is supported on the hanger by inserting the shoulder support bars 16 through the neck of the sweater so that they extend under the opposite shoulders. The loops 36 are then passed over the respective hooks 18. The shoulder support bars 16 are intended to extend the full length of the shoulder so that the rounded sections are disposed adjacent to the connections between the sleeves 34 and the body portion 32. The bottoms of the hooks 18 are separated from the rounded sections 20 by a distance less than the thickness of the arm at that point so that the loops 36 support a portion of the weight of the sweaten'lhis arrangement is to be contrasted with a normal sweater hanger which only has the sloped shoulder bars 16 and the entire Weight of the garment is supported on these bars. The support of the sweater at the armpit section lifts the sides of the body portion 32 and the inner sides of the arms 34 to prevent them from hanging unnaturally and achieving an ungainly permanent set.

A more specific concept of the present invention is embodied in the sweater by the provision of narrow elongated areas of controlled weaving which extend from the base of the loops 36 to points on the lower side of the sweater. A pair of these areas 38 extend along the inner sides of the arms of the sweater and at their lower ends 40 spread out to extend along a portion of the perimeter of the open cuff of the sweater. A similar set of areas 42 extend along the inner sides of the body 32 of the sweater and spread out as at 44 to extend along the major part of the perimeter of the bottom of the sweater. The areas 38 and 42 may take the form of a heavier weave or of a lining type of insert. Their purpose is to spread the upward force exerted on the loops 36 without passing through the body of the sweater. This tends to lift the sweater and prevent it from drooping while hanging.

FIGURE 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention. This embodiment of the hanger is formed of wire bent and rebent to achieve the shape of a hanger in the same manner as conventional hangers. It consists of a hook section 60, adapted to be secured on a normal closet bar, in carrying a pair of downwardly sloped shoulder support sections 62 which extend in opposite directions. and are joined to the hook 60 by connecting section 64. The shoulder support bars 62 slope with respect to the vertical at a greater angle than the bars 16 of the first embodiment. The length of the shoulder bar 62 which is proximate to the lower end of the hook 64 extends linearly but the extreme lower ends are downwardly curved into an are 66 so that the extreme lower ends are disposed in approximately a vertical alignment.

A plurality of loop supporting hooks 68 are formed at spaced intervals along the lower side of the length of the arm 62 as well as their curved end portion 66. The purpose of these hooks is to provide means for retaining sweaters or shirts of various size on the hanger. The necessity for the provision of a variety of hooks arises from the fact that the distance between the neck and the connection between the sleeve and the body portion of a garment must be related to the distance between the loop supporting hooks and the point of support of the neckline on the shoulder supporting bars.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A system for supporting garments comprising: a sweater and like garments having arms and a body portion, a pair of fiexibles loops joined to the garment at the lower end of the interior side of the joinder between the arms and the body thereof,.a hanger including a hook portion adapted to engage a normal closet bar, a pair of oppositely extending shoulder support bars, and loop engaging means disposed below the ends of the shoulder support bars and supported thereby, said loop engaging means being operative to support the loops at such times as the hanger is disposed within the garment with its shoulder support bars disposed along and below the shoulders of the garment.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the loop engaging means constitutes open ended hooks having upwardly inclined ends.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein elongated reinforcing strips are formed in the garment with one end of each attached to the base of one of the loops and the other end attached to a point on the lower end of the garment.

4. A sweater intended for storage on a hanger having a pair of oppositely sloping shoulder bars and loop engaging hooks disposed below and within the ends of said sloping shoulder bars, comprising: a body portion; a pair of cylindrical arm portions joined to the body portion; and a pair of elongated flexible loops attached to the inner sides of the lower ends of the joinders between the arms and body section, and operative to be engaged by said loop supporting means on the hanger when in storage.

5. The sweater of claim 4 wherein elongated reinforcing means extend from the joinder of the loops to the body portion along the lower portions in the body and arms of the sweater.

6. The sweater of claim 5 wherein the reinforcing means consists of areas of heavy weaving extending between the joinder of the loops to the sweater and the lower sides of the arms and body of the sweater.

7. A system for hanging sweaters and like garments, comprising: a hanger having an open ended, downwardly turned hook, operative to engage a normal closet bar, a connecting section disposed in broadly vertical alignment when said downwardly turned hook is supported on a closet bar, with its upper end joined to the downwardly turned hook, a pair of oppositely extending shoulder support bars each having one end joined to the lower end of the connecting section, said support bars being sloped downwardly with respect to the horizontal when the downwardly directed hook is disposed about a closet bar, rounded sections on the extreme outer ends of said shoulder support bars, loop engaging means disposed on the ends of the rounded sections supported below and within the extreme outer ends of the shoulder support bars; and a sweater having a body section, a pair of arm sections joined to said body section and loops attached to the inner side of the sweater at the bottom of the joinders between the arm sections and the body section, said loops being operative to be engaged by said loop engaging means on the hanger at such time as the sweater is stored on the hanger.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the. sweater has reinforcing means extending from the joinder of the loops and body of the sweater.

5 6 of the sweater to points along the lower sides of the arms 2,692,385 10/ 1954 Harper 2-97 X 2,792,572 5/1957 Rosenbaum et a1. 2-90 2,895,657 7/1959 Laughton 22392 References Cited 3,069,054 12/ 1962 Treiman 223-92 UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 482 237 4/1952 Canada 1/ 1905 Eyres 223-92 X FRIDGE. 6/1920 Gottschalk 2271 3/1929 Neuman 10 PATRICK D. LAWSON, P1 zmary Exammer. 11/1937 Reeb 2-126 G. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SYSTEM FOR SUPPORTING GARMENTS COMPRISING: A SWEATER AND LIKE GARMENTS HAVING ARMS AND A BODY PORTION, A PAIR OF FLEXIBLES LOOPS JOINED TO THE GARMENT AT THE LOWER END OF THE INTERIOR SIDE OF THE JOINDER BETWEEN THE ARMS AND THE BODY THEREOF, A HANGER INCLUDING A HOOK PORTION ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A NORMAL CLOSET BAR, A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY EXTENDING SHOUDLER SUPPORT BARS, AND LOOP ENGAGING MEANS DISPOSED BELOW THE ENDS OF THE SHOULDER SUPPORT BARS AND SUPPORTED THEREBY, SAID LOOP ENGAGING MEANS BEING OPERATIVE TO SUPPORT THE LOOPS AT SUCH TIMES AS THE HANGER IS DISPOSED WITHIN THE GARMENT WITH ITS SHOULDER SUPPORT BARS DISPOSED ALONG AND BELOW THE SHOULDERS OF THE GARMENT. 